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05/21/2011

Homemade Tortillas

Making soft delicious tortillas at home is surprisingly easy. In fact, once I started making my own suddenly all our dinners and lunches were rolled up in fresh tortillas.

The dough is made from flour, shortening, water, and salt. I had all the ingredients on hand but the shortening.. which ended up only costing two dollars and has lasted through many many batches of tortillas. Considering how cheap the ingredients are and how delicious they taste it just doesn't make sense to pay for the much more expensive packaged ones.

To make the dough you first work the shortening into the flour. You want to incorporate it entirely so that no pieces of shortening remain un-mixed. I just use my hands to rub it completely into the flour.

Next some hot tap water and salt is stirred in with a fork until a dough forms. Then the dough is kneaded briefly until it smooths out a bit and comes together.

To make sure that the tortillas are the same size the easiest thing to do is roll the dough into a log and then cut it into equal pieces.

Since the dough is a medium-stiff consistency it might be easier just to squeeze it into a log shape rather than roll it.

I was making a half recipe so I cut my log into six equal pieces and rolled each one into a ball shape.

The balls get put into a plastic bag, or covered with plastic wrap and are left to let the gluten relax for at least 20 minutes. This makes them easier to roll out and gives you time to prepare the filling for them.

When you're ready to start rolling out the tortillas preheat an ungreased heavy skillet or griddle to medium high heat. Its important to get it to temperature before you put a tortilla on it so that they cook properly.It's also helpful to have a plate with tinfoil over it ready to put the cooked tortillas in

Each ball gets rolled out into the seven inch diameter circle. Once the skillet/griddle is at medium high heat place a tortilla on it and cook for 30 - 40 seconds. Flip the tortilla over and cook for another 30 seconds and then place on a plate and cover with tinfoil to keep warm.

I find that the tortillas are cooked the best if I use my phone's stopwatch and flip the tortillas right at 30 seconds. If you over cook them they will get a bit crisp.

For soft tortillas that roll up easily its best to stack them and keep them covered with tinfoil as you cook them and then let them sit for a minute or two after they are all cooked. By covering and stacking them it steams the tortillas below and softens them.

Then you get to fill them with whatever you like!

Left over steak, tomatoes, feta, pickled peppers made a quick dinner one night.

For lunch I filled it with some avocado, salsa, cilantro and cheese

A breakfast tortilla with a fried egg, feta, spinach and tomatoes.

While visiting my sister in Montreal we kept it simple and just spread them with peanut butter and jelly.

These are so versatile, delicious, and cheap! It's a very useful recipe to have on hand because they make a casual, quick meal more interesting and special.

1. Work the vegetable shortening into the flour with your hands. Make sure to fully incorporate it and rub it in completely.

2. Dissolve the salt in the water. Work the water into the flour - shortening mix with a fork until a dough forms.

3. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until the dough smooths out.

4. Roll the dough out into a log and cut into 12 equal pieces. Roll them into balls and either cover with plastic wrap or place in a plastic wrap. Let them rest for at least 20 minutes

5. Preheat an ungreased heavy skillet or griddle to medium high. Then roll out the dough into seven inch circles.

6. Cook the tortillas (I do them one at a time) for 30 seconds on each size. The tortilla should sizzle a bit when you place it on the hot pan.

7. As you cook them keep the other cooked tortillas warm and soft on a tinfoil covered plate. Let them soften covered by tinfoil for a minute or two before using. The tortillas on the bottom will be softer than the ones on top so use those first.

Michelle : My tortillas are never perfectly round. I sometimes just cut around the edge to give them a rounder smoother edge. When I don't they look like the tortillas in the last picture: roundish but not quite a circle

My brother has a tortilla press that he uses to make corn tortillas on occasion...they always turn out...eh, pretty well. :) These look tasty, though. I've never made tortillas myself, but it could be one of those things I try out for a special occasion. Maybe next Cinco de Mayo?

Rhea: I make more than I need and keep them in a ziplock bag. I usually use them all within the next day or two (at the most) so I don't know how long they keep beyond that. As for making the dough and putting them in the fridge, I haven't tried this but if you do try it I would suggest wrapping the dough tightly in plastic to keep it from drying out and then letting the dough come to room temp before rolling out.

Becky: I haven't made quesadillas but I have fried them in a little bit of oil to get them crsipy for tostadas and it worked very well

Michelle : My tortillas are never perfectly round. I sometimes just cut around the edge to give them a rounder smoother edge. When I don't they look like the tortillas in the last picture: roundish but not quite a circle

Judy: There are recipes for tortillas that use vegetable oil. I wouldn't sub in oil to this recipe just because the flour amount may be different. The most authentic tortillas are made with lard instead of shortening (which you can sub into this recipe) but I don't think that solves your health concerns ;)

Thanks for using a picture of my woodburned rolling pin in your tortilla making post- I've had several folks contact me after seeing your lovely blog, one of them to potentially order a rolling pin of her own! Many thanks-
Cecilia Galluccio

Is nice to see someone actually using the Mexican recipe for tortillas, most American recipes out there use water instead of shortening and it just kills the flavor (in Mexico sometimes we substitute the shortening for a little bit of oil to make them lest fattening but I prefer the traditional recipe).
Just one thing, I don´t know how much if affect the flavor bur this is how we do them in Mexico: We put all the ingredients together (the ones you have PLUS baking powder) and make a small mountain with a little hole in the middle to contain the warm water, then pour the water little by little into the mix and start kneeling with our hands to mix everything together (yes it burns a little the fist few times but you get use to it after a while).
Once the dough is made we let it rest for a little while in a "tortillera" (is similar to a bowl) or a plate and we cover them so they "sweet" for like 20 minutes (this step is optional, if you are really hungry you can skip it ;P ) once they are ready then you can make the little individual balls for the tortillas.
When you are ready to roll them be sure to cover your surface AND your rolling pin with some flour so they don't stick and reapply as you see necessary.
To cook them just put them in a skillet, we use "comales" but they don´t seem to be very common outside of Mexico, and once they star to inflate (like a balloon) squish them to release the air and check to see if they are fully cooked from that side, if they are just flip them over and repeat the process in the other side (the secret of a good tortilla is to only flip them ONCE) and don´t worry if you get a few crispy ones, they are still delicious and you will get the hang of it eventually.
I have been cooking tortillas since I was 6 almost every morning (they are absolutely delicious with some scrambled eggs, either alone or with beans, ham, potatoes or anything you want) and I have been making them since I was 12, this is my grandmother recipe, she used to make them every time it rained an it was the best part of the spring :)

3 1/2 cups of flour
1 teaspoon of salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
100g of shortening
3/4 to 1 cup of almost boiling water (this is by eye, if you feel the dough is to sticky then there is to much water and you can try fixing it with some more flour)

I really hope you like them and please forgive any problems with my English :p.